Islamabad: There was tremendous need and space for formulating and implementing citizen-centric policies. Also, the citizens need to proactively and meaningfully engage with both public and private sectors for meeting the challenges arising out of market processes. This was more or less the common opinion of experts at the two-day regional conference, which was organized by Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan (CRCP) on Governance and Market Processes in South Asia: Issues of citizenship and Consumer Protection. The conference was organized in partnership with British Council Pakistan, Liberal Forum Pakistan, Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS) India, and ITDG South Asia. The conference was organized in connection with the World Consumer Rights Day, which is celebrated on March 15 every year.

Speaking during the inaugural session of the conference, Dr. Nasim Ashraf, Chairman National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) remarked that the Government of Pakistan was taking keen interest to protect the interests of consumers and making every effort to strengthen rule of law in Pakistan. He also said that the government was very serious on the issue of consumer protection legislation. The present government has taken many steps to reform the governance apparatus; the most remarkable of them included transfer of power to the grassroots through installment of local government system and police reforms, he said. Mr. Afzal Mufti, while briefing on Access to Justice Program said that institutions were being reformed to redress the citizens’ problems in very effective manner. Mr. Mukhtar Ahmad Ali, Executive Coordinator CRCP, said that in the context of trade liberalization within the region and in the world around, there was a dire need to revisit the issues and meaning of citizenship and consumer protection.

In a session on Governance Reforms and Market Processes in South Asia, Mr. Daniyal Aziz, Chairman National Reconstruction Bureau stressed that the government was fully aware of the need to implement governance reforms in order to meet the challenges of market processes. He said that the devolution plan was gradually taking roots and in the near future, it would mark a significant improvement in the governance. Mr. Sohail Altaf, Zonal Chairman Federal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Zafarullah Khan Coordinator FNF, and Mr. Bilal Ahmad stressed the need for collaborative efforts to diagnose the right kind of action needed. In a session on Consumer Protecting Legislation in South Asia, Dr. Faqir Hussain, Secretary, Pakistan Law and Justice Commission, emphasized the role of civil society in educating people on consumer issues. Mr. Afzal Mufti, Senior Advocate, stressed to learn from Australia, United Kingdom and India regarding consumer protection legislation. Mr. Aftab Alam advocate, while quoting examples from the consumer protection law in the region, said that Pakistan was still lagging behind in providing a sound legal forum for redressal of consumer grievances.

In a session on Freedom of Information, Mr. Peter Noorlander from Article 19, United Kingdom, stressed that FOI is oxygen to democracy and people’s empowerment. He urged the participants to change the culture of secrecy through using the provisions of Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002. Mr. Shaukat Omari, Country Director, Transparency International Pakistan, said that the Freedom of Information was critical to combat corruption. Mr. Roland D. Souza, chairman, Shehri-an NGO in Karachi, vowed for civil society mobilization for making governance institutions open and accountable. Mr. Nitya Nanda from CUTS India, Mr. Wajid Ali Pirzada, National Coordinator Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, PARC, Mr. Muhammad Saeed, Editor World Trade Review, Hafiz Aziz ur Rehman from The Network for Consumer Protection, Mr. Mukhtar Ahmad from Ministry of Commerce and Dr Azra Talat from Roots for Equity Pakistan, and representatives from various government institutions cautioned to the adverse impacts of the WTO on the livelihood of the poor. They stressed to initiate a dialogue in the society to cope with the challenges of WTO. Mr. Fayyaz Baqir, National Coordinator GEF, and Mr. Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, National Programme Coordinator Lead emphasized the need for proactive involvement of citizens and judiciary to protect environment.

Mr. Sajid Kazmi, Ms. Kishwar Khan, Mr. Ahmad Khan and Ms. Shaisata Sohail highlighted the need for review of present competition law in Pakistan. The speakers stressed that there was a need to strengthen the role of Monopoly Control Authority. In a session on Standardization and Accreditation, Eng. Zafar Iqbal Choudhry highlighted the rampant corruption in the system of certification process. Mr. Mazhar Siraj, Research Fellow CRCP, said that in order to protect the 1.2 billion poor people in the South Asia, regional standardization and accreditation regimes could play very important role. In a session on poverty, Mr. Khadim Hussain, Programme Coordinator ActionAid, while criticizing the PRSP, said that the paper did not provide any strategy for poverty reduction, rather it provided only a general guideline. Dr. Pervaiz Tahir, Chief Economist Planning Commission of Pakistan, said that government was determined to alleviate poverty and PRSP could be a very useful instrument in this regard. Dr. Mushtaq A. Khan was of the view that poverty was a complex problem and therefore, solutions to this problem could not be simple.

In a session on disaster management and preparedness, Ms. Madhavi Ariyabandu, Program Team Leader, ITDG South Asia Sri Lanka said that incidence of disasters was very high in South Asia, which was one of the major reason of poverty in the region. Maj (Retd). Amir Zulqarnain, DG Relief Punjab said that government has always tried to mitigate the impacts of disasters on community. Dr Sarfraz Hussain Ansari Trustee Doaba Foundation said that involvement of community was the key to mitigate the impacts of disaster. Mr. Amjad Bhatti Coordinator Journalist Resource Centre said that media could be instrumental in disaster preparedness by providing timely warnings to the vulnerable communities.

In the concluding session, Mr. Mukhtar Ahmad Ali said that it was need of the hour that citizens should proactively engage with the government and private sector to face the challenges arising out of trends in the market. Mr. Arshad Bhatti said that engagement of citizens was the most effective instrument to make effective the governance reforms.